Renovation Progress III

It took 4 coats of paint over the tinted primer to get the red even but it was definetly worth it! It looks great and I am finally able to move on to the next stage.

This is the trim I picked out to go on the wall between the two paint colors.

This is the trim on the wall once I got it primed and painted!

We had to get my mom to help us haul the MDF home because it wouldn't fit in either of our vehicles. We did manage to get the 2x4's in my Jeep but I had to sit on the floor in the back on the way home.

 We set up all the power tools and got to work measuring and cutting the wood for all the tables.

This is the island work counter. It is standing height, built so that 4 small bookcases fit underneath. The top is going to be a 4' x 5.5' piece of MDF covered in vinyl floor tiles.

Renovation Progress II

I primed the whole room and then decided to go over the top half with a second coat since I would be painting that part white.

We used a chalk line to get a nice straight level line on the walls. I had never used one before but it was very easy!

After covering the chalk line with painters tape I got the tinted primer on the bottom part of the wall.

I had read that getting a good even coat with red paint was not easy but I had no idea what I was in for! The first coat ended up looking like a kid just threw paint everywhere! You can see every brush stroke and every place I set the roller on the wall.

The second coat got a little better but now the corners and baseboards are a lot lighter than the rest of the walls (which are also still blotchy). After applying the third coat I have hope that eventually it will work out, even if it means I have to go buy some more paint!

Renovation Progress

First thing I had to do was pull up all the carpet tack strips. A lot of the nails stayed behind in the concrete and when I pulled them out they left holes in the floor!

There is also a nice crack that runs the entire length of the room that will have to be patched along with all the holes. I went ahead and sanded the woodwork and then cleaned up all the dust. I take that back, I'll never get ALL the dust, but I swept and swept and swept until I felt I probably got as much as I could.

Then the patching began. I used Quikrete in a bottle which made it really easy to apply. I smoothed everything with a putty knife and let it dry overnight.

I had shelves and pegboards all over the walls so there were a lot of holes that needed spackling.

I think I may have lost it...

My mind, I mean. I finally got fed up with the way things were in my room and spontaneously started moving all my supplies out. I quickly filled closets, corners and finally just piled the last few boxes right in the middle of the living room!

I had to get everything off the pegboards and then get the pegboard and the shelves, and the cork/chalk board, and the art off the walls.

Once everything was out, I had a chance to vacuum. First time in a long time for that! I also remembered to put the drill on the charger so it would be ready when I was.

I got the tables taken apart and the supports off the wall and now the room is technically empty!

There was never any doubt about getting rid of the carpet. I hate carpet! So I cut it into a few sections to make it easier to handle and started pulling it up from the tack strips.

With the carpet and pad removed, the destruction phase is complete!

Shrines

"Jack Of All Trades"

I have a bunch of containers of all different kinds and I decided I wanted to make some shrines. After looking through my collection I chose a couple miniature dollhouse china cabinets, an altoid tin and a few matchboxes. Only the altoid tin has been completed so far.

"Día de los Muertos"

(Day Of The Dead)

"Moonstruck"

Now that this one is painted I'm gathering things to put in it.

These matchbox shrines are covered in clay. Next step is to paint them!

Who Do That Voodoo That You Do Soooooo Well Part I

Here is Voodoo Mama!

I started working on her awhile back and my ideas kept building on themselves.

I started out by making an armature out of heavy gauge wire that would stand up by itself. I coated it thinly in clay, then went back and added the face, hands, feet and boobies! BIG boobies!

A little paint and she is starting to look like somebody so now I need to get her dressed!

Her underwear

A skirt and a little trim around her top make her decent but I don't think there is enough definition around her waist so she definetly needs a corset.

Once I get her clothes just right it's time for my favorite part! Embellishment!!

She gets hair, of course! And jewelry! A chunky stone and bone necklace, shells and ribbons in her hair and a belt with pouches for all her little goodies.

Resin Casting

Okay, seriously. This stuff is no joke! I am not the kind of person who wants to suit up like a Storm Trooper to do battle with my crafts. I'm talking respirator, goggles and gloves! Who can work with all that stuff on? Not me! So this might be the craft that kills me! :-) (And I always thought it would be the blow torch or something much more dramatic) Anyway, I left the gloves on but could not deal with the rest of the getup so I ventillated as best I could and got down to it.... carefully!

First I collected a bunch of different things that I thought would look cool embedded in the resin. Paper, stickers, string, paint, glitter...

Gemstone patterned scrapbook paper

The orange ones are glitter paper and the others are loose glitter.

More paper punches

Stickers

The red and black ones are feathers. Top middle is copper mesh and copper paper pieces. Next to that one on the left is silver beads. The moons are rhinestones.

Acrylic paint swirled around. The next batch I'm going to try some glass paint to get a more translucent effect.

Gold metallic thread and red thread.

Metal Embossing

I got metal embossing tools for Christmas and I am having a blast with this! I played around with all the textures that came with it and got a feel for the different effects that they create on the metal.

Then I printed out a stencil and embossed the design onto my scrap piece. The first thing I realized is BIGGER is BETTER! Too small and the metal wants to bend back into itself in all the wrong places.

I cut it out and hit the raised edges with a sharpie. Not real pretty, but not too bad for my first try either!

I'm still trying to figure out how to get a good tarnished look to stick to the metal. Acrylic paint seemed to do okay but I'm not completely loving it.

Getting Organized - The Room!

Since I'm in the process of organizing things I thought I would post a few pictures of my room at it's worst. I'm a binge artist. I go for a few weeks with so many ideas and projects happening all around me I can't think straight. Then the chaos of the room starts to overwhelm me and I have to put everything away again.

We moved into this house in April of 2006 and I have redone my room several times. Obviously I should have planned it out better to begin with but with everything else going on in the move I couldn't devote myself to my craftroom. The first time I sponge painted the walls dark blue. I added a lot of bright orange accents and curtains and I loved the colors but the sponge paint was too busy with everything else hanging on my walls in there. A few months later I repainted the walls my favorite color, a calming green. I made new curtains, hung a shelf in my closet and tried to reorganize things so they were more accessible. I haven't repainted again but I have arranged and rearranged my supplies a number of times and I am finally beginning to get a handle on this situation.

Earlier this year a great friend of mine gave me some old metal storage cubes he didn't want anymore and I hung several pegboard on the wall above my work surface for tools. Huge improvement!